The Mustard Seed to Close After Four Decades

Slideshow

Michael McDevitt | The PHOENIXPhil Bujnowski, owner of the Mustard Seed Christian Bookstore, informs longtime customer Ronald Schupp that the store will be closing by Nov. 30, after the building in which his store sits was sold last year.Michael McDevitt | The PHOENIXThe Mustard Seed started with Phil Bujnowski selling Bibles out of the trunk of his car across Chicago, but gradually evolved into his Edgewater storefront as he began to accrue more inventory and expanded into selling more books and gift items.Michael McDevitt | The PHOENIXThe back storage room in Bujnowski’s shop is overflowing with books. Nearly 9,500 of those, he said, are up for sale as he begins the process to close his store.Michael McDevitt | The PHOENIXIn order to combat dwindling sales during the rise of internet book retailers, Bujnowski began to primarily sell used books a decade ago.Michael McDevitt | The PHOENIXBujnowski searched through the various versions of the Bible the Mustard Seed sells after a Loyola student entered looking for a required book for class.Michael McDevitt | The PHOENIXMichael McDevitt | The PHOENIX

More than 40 years in business has reaffirmed what Phil Bujnowski has always been told as fact; the Bible is the world’s best-selling book.

Bujnowski, a 69-year-old Catholic who attends St. Gertrude’s Parish in Rogers Park, owns and operates the Mustard Seed Christian Bookstore at West Sheridan Road and North Broadway Avenue as a tenant of the Woodruff Arcade Building — a nearly century-old building soon to be replaced by a mixed-use development.

What started in 1975 with Bujnowski selling Bibles out of the trunk of his car around Chicago gradually evolved into his Edgewater storefront, which opened in 1978. Since then, the store has moved from its original, smaller location next door — where Style Zone Hair Salon currently sits — to its current, larger space to account for a growing inventory.

The narrow aisles of the Mustard Seed are cramped with Christian media and religious knick-knacks. The days of Bujnowski exclusively selling Bibles are long gone; walls and shelves are strewn with crucifixes, mugs and figurines. The shop sells dozens of versions of the Bible and numerous genres of Christian books: children’s picture books, history books, prayer booklets and self-help books are among the many options.

After serving as a fixture of the Rogers Park community for several decades, Bujnowski will have to close his store in November.

The PHOENIX previously reported on the selling of the Woodruff Arcade Building in February. Businesses leasing space in the building were originally told they had until Dec. 30 to vacate, but Bujnowski said that deadline has since been moved up a month to Nov. 30 because the developer is giving them two months of free rent.

A spokeswoman for 48th Ward Alderman Harry Osterman, in whose district the arcade building stands, declined to comment on the new deadline.

As a result, Bujnowksi said the Mustard Seed will most likely close before Thanksgiving. He said he received an offer to move the store to a vacant spot on North Clark Street, where Minas TV once ran video rentals, but he ultimately refused when his wife, Nancy, wouldn’t give him her blessing.

“It’s been a good run,” Bujnowski said.

With the rise of internet book retailers such as Amazon in the past two decades, Bujnowksi experienced the same dip in sales as most bookstores nationwide, but he learned to adapt. Bujnowski said he’s had to shift his focus to selling used books. Resale items take up the majority of his inventory and he’s constantly getting items through donations, he said.

Selling donated items means Bujnowski gets all the profit, which he said has helped his business stay afloat during a turbulent decade for bookstore owners.

However, recently Bujnowksi has begun to get rid of his inventory. The various overflowing stacks of books which litter the store are only a preview for what Bujnowksi’s full inventory consists of.

In the back storage room, Bujnowski said he has around 10,000 items, which are listed for sale on half.com; 9,500 of those items are books. Now, he said, two to three books from his collection are sold and shipped out every day.

He took a second job as a sacristan — the person responsible for taking care of a church’s sacred objects and vestments — several years ago to help where book sales fell short, a role he said he’ll continue when he closes his doors for good. But Bujnowski appeared to get choked up a little and said he’ll miss the day-to-day interactions with customers most.

“I really did approach it as a ministry, as a calling,” Bujnowski said. “I do it because it’s important and I serve people.”

The store has numerous regular customers. Ronald Schupp — a bespectacled man with feathers and pins adorning his cowboy hat — seemed saddened as Bujnowski mentioned the news of the store’s closing.

“This is the best store of its kind that I’ve ever been in,” said Schupp, 65. “I’ve been a loyal customer since the [1980s].”

It seemed every time someone entered through the door, Bujnowski perked up and greeted them by name before the two began to speak like old friends.

“We’ve had our fair share of characters, but the richness of people you get — the customer base has been so great,” Bujnowski said.

A woman named Mary dropped off some books for donation. Bujnowski held a brief conversation with her and informed her of the closing. Another older man, named Vernon, suggested Bujnowski take a country music CD as a donation because it featured songs about God. Bujnowksi chuckled and said he’d known him since the man was 25-years-old.

He easily engaged those he didn’t know in conversation and offered his assistance in the best way he could.

One Loyola student stopped by in search of a required text for class. Bujnowski immediately led him to the back of the store, squatted down and began rifling through different Bibles to help the student find what he needed.

In the past, Bujnowski did business with dozens of parishes across Chicago, but he also found a significant clientele at Loyola. He said professors in the university’s Institute for Pastoral Studies (IPS) would often recommend their students pick up course texts there.

Paul Giblin, a professor emeritus from IPS, said when the department was located on the Lake Shore Campus, he always ordered his course books through the Mustard Seed.

“Phil and Nancy ran so much more than a bookstore. They were warm and gentle and on a first name basis with street people,” Giblin wrote in an email to The PHOENIX. “Their closing is a big loss to the neighborhood.”

Joy Bleiker, a senior theological studies student at Loyola, said walking into the Mustard Seed her first year helped her discover what she wanted to do during her college years.

“It definitely was a big part of my formation,” the 21-year-old said. “It’s such a beautiful little shop in a big city.”

Closer Look Editor

Michael McDevitt is a senior journalism major from Quincy, Massachusetts and the Closer Look editor for The PHOENIX. He started out as a news writer for The PHOENIX in 2015, worked as an assistant news editor in 2016 and as news editor in 2017-18. When he's not editing stories, Michael's probably watching “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”

2 thoughts on “The Mustard Seed to Close After Four Decades”

I am so sorry to learn that the Mustard Seed is closing. My years at Mundelein College were made brighter by this little shop and by Phil’s warm welcome each time I entered. If he didn’t have what I was looking for, he always did his best to find it for me. Thank you, Phil!

On another note, I tried looking on half.com to see what was for sale, but the page redirects to eBay.

I was looking for ideas on what to purchase for someone with cancer as a gift to encourage and was startled by the closeout sign. This makes me sad to be losing such a landmark in the community of faith.

Oh well, I wish the Bujnowksi couple well in whatever God has next for them.